Investigation into phase transformations and structural and luminescent properties of multiphase coatings and aluminum oxide nanopowder prepared by evaporation with a pulsed electron beam

Multiphase nanopowder and amorphous/amorphous-nanocrystal coatings on the basis of Al2O3 have been produced on a glass substrate by the method of pulsed electron-beam evaporation in vacuum. Their characteristics are studied by XRD, BET, pulsed cathodoluminescence, and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC)/thermogravimetric analysis. The effect of the deposition time of nanoparticles (NPs) on the phase composition of coatings and nanopowders is established. The correlation of luminescent properties with the phase composition of coatings and nanopowders is detected. Amorphous-nanocrystal coatings and nanopowders containing an Al2O3γ phase with a defective cubic spinel structure are promising materials for the dosimetry of different types of ionizing radiation. © 2013 Pleiades Publishing, Ltd

The use of manganese-doped mesoporous silica nanopowder for targeted drug delivery

The researched manganese-doped mesoporous silica nanopowder (SiO 2 -MnO 2 NP) was produced using evaporation caused by a pulsed electron beam in a vacuum. The synthesized material demonstrated high porosity, amorphous structure and magnetic properties increased with the addition of dopant. The evaluation of the sedimentation stability of NP suspensions showed the need for the additional stabilization. It was established that increasing the sonication time, as the way to increase stability, leads to changes in the structure of the NP. PEG stabilized suspensions showed the highest stability. Experimental results indicated that for different drugs individual methods of loading and release are required. Drug loaded NP demonstrated a high drug loading capacity of 0.09 mg Amoxicillin per mg NP, 0.075 mg Doxorubicin per mg NP that is five times higher than loading capacity of chemically synthesized NP. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.This work was performed within a support of the Russian Science Foundation No. 16-16-04038)

Properties of the amorphous-nanocrystalline Gd2O3 powder prepared by pulsed electron beam evaporation

An amorphous-nanocrystalline Gd2O3 powder with a specific surface area of 155 m2/g has been prepared using pulsed electron beam evaporation in vacuum. The nanopowder consists of 20- to 500-nm agglomerates formed by crystalline nanoparticles (3-12 nm in diameter) connected by amorphous-nanocrystalline strands. At room temperature, the Gd2O3 nanopowder exhibits a paramagnetic behavior. The phase transformations occurring in the powder have been investigated using differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetry (40-1400°C). The amorphous phase of the nanopowder is thermally stable up to a temperature of 1080°C. It has been found that the amorphous phase has an inhibitory effect on the temperature of the polymorphic transformation from the cubic phase into the monoclinic phase. It has been revealed that, compared with the microcrystalline powder, the Gd2O3 nanopowder is characterized by a complete quenching of photoluminescence. © 2013 Pleiades Publishing, Ltd

Physical properties of fluorides barium and calcium nanopowders produced by the pulsed electron beam evaporation method

The mesoporous nanocrystal powders BaF 2 and CaF 2 with a specific surface up to 34.8 and 88.7 sq.m/g, respectively, are produced by the pulsed electron beam evaporation method in vacuum. The influence of thermal annealing of nanoparticles on air in the range of temperature from 200 to 900°C on the size, morphology of particles and change of their magnetic and luminescent properties investigated have been investigared. The essential stoichiometric impurity (overage of metals) and significant growth in a specific surface of nanopowders (NP) BaF 2 and CaF 2 after annealing at the temperature of 200°C have been detected. It is established that the synthesized NP BaF 2 is a paramagnetic while initial material in the bulk state is diamagnetic. After annealing at 900°C appears the small ferromagnetic contribution at NP BaF 2 . Produced NP CaF 2 showed ferromagnetic behavior. In literature there is no information about the ferromagnetism of CaF 2 . Appearance of the ferromagnetic response can be explained with formation of structural and radiation defects (F-centers, etc.). The analysis of PCL and magnetization curves of samples BaF 2 and CaF 2 allows drawing conclusions about their connection. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.The authors are grateful to Pryanichnikov S.V., a researcher of the shared equipment center “Ural” of the Institute of Metallurgy of the Ural division of RAS, for the X-ray phase analysis; to the researchers of the Institute of Electrophysics of the Ural division of RAS Demina T.M. for the texture analysis, Murzakayev A.M. and Timashenkova O.R. for the microscopic analysis, Spirina A.V. for the PCL analysis. This work has been carried out within the scope of government order No. 0389-2015-0026 and with partial support of RFBR project No. 18-08-00514. The magnetic measurements were carried out within the scope of government order under the topic MAGNIT, state registration No. AAAA-A18-118020290129-5

Effect of iron doping on the properties of nanopowders and coatings on the basis of Al2O3 produced by pulsed electron beam evaporation

Multiphase nanopowders (NPs) and amorphous/amorphous-nanocrystalline coatings (A-NC) have been prepared by the evaporation of ceramic targets of Al2O3-Fe2O3 (0.1, 3, 5 Fe2O3 mass %) by a pulsed electron beam in vacuum. The specific surface area of NP Al2O3-Fe2O3 reached 277 m2/g. The α and γ phases Al2O3 and other nonidentified phases have been found in the composition of NP Al2O3-Fe2O3. All coatings contained an insignificant fraction of the crystalline γ phase. No secondary phases on the basis of iron have been revealed. According to transmission electron microscopy, the fine fraction of NP Al2O3-Fe2O3 consists of amorphous nanoparticles of an irregular and quasispherical shape no more than 10 nm in size which form agglomerates reaching 1.5 μm. A large fraction of NPs consists of crystal spherical nanoparticles with preferential sizes of about 10-20 nm. All NP Al2O3-Fe2O3 showed ferromagnetic behavior at room temperature. The maximum magnetic response has been established in NPs with a minimum iron content (1.1 mass %). The pulsed cathode luminescence spectra of coatings and NP Al2O3-Fe2O3 have been presented by a wide band in the wavelength range of 300-900 nm regardless of their phase composition. Phase transformations into NP AL2O3-1.1% Fe and coatings from undoped Al2O3 heated to 1400°C occur according to the following scheme: amorphous phase → γ → δ → θ → α, regardless of their initial phase composition. The threshold of thermal stability of the Γ phase in NPs and the coating of undoped Al2O3 does not exceed 830°C. For the first time, the increased thermo and optically stimulated luminescent response comparable with the response of the leading TLD-500K thermoluminescent dosimeter has been reached in A-NC coatings of undoped Al2O3. © 2013 Pleiades Publishing, Ltd

Production of Nanopowders of Bismuth Oxide Doped with Silver by Pulsed Electron Beam Evaporation in Vacuum

Various bismuth containing compounds are promising in many applications, including for creating photocatalysts based on them using a visible range of light. However, strong polymorphism (9 polymophic phases of Bi2O3), thermal instability and changes in the properties of bismuth oxide during long-term storage significantly complicate work with it. One way to increase stability and improve photocatalytic properties is by doping Bi2O3 with various metals. Ag doped Bi2O3 nanoparticles (NPs) are typically produced using chemical techniques often associated with the presence of toxic chemicals. The present paper used an environmentally friendly method of producing NPs using the method of pulsed electron beam evaporation in vacuum. The evaporation target was obtained by solid phase synthesis in an electric furnace on air using silver nitrate additives (1 and 5 wt.%).Textural, thermal and magnetic properties of the obtained NPs have been studied. Was found that the Ag-Bi2O3 NPs have a specific surface area (SSA) of 23.7 m2/g, which was almost 2 times bigger than the SSA of the pure Bi2O3 (13.2 m2/g) obtained previously. The thermal stability of the Ag-doped Bi2O3 samples was maintained to the temperature 350°C. While further heating on air took place the phase transition β → α. © 2021 Institute of Physics Publishing. All rights reserved.Authors are grateful to the research scientist of IMF UB RAS, to PhD Gaviko V.S. for XRD NPs. The reported study was funded by RFBR and GACR, project number 20-58-26002

Formation of Droplets in a Heterophasic Amorphocrystalline Nanopowder Bi2O3 Produced by Pulsed Electron Beam Evaporation in Vacuum

In the present work, a mesoporous multiphase amorphous crystal nanopowder Bi2O3 with a specific surface area of up to 23 m2/g was produced by pulsed electron beam evaporation in vacuum. Influence of thermal annealing (200-500 C) of powders in air is investigated. The formation of droplets with a size of 3-5 nm on the surface of all large nanoparticles constituting the framework 3D nanopowder agglomerates was found due to extrusion of liquid bismuth from the volume during cooling. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.The study was carried out with the financial support of RFFI and the Czech Science Foundation as part of scientific project No. 20-58-26002

Luminescent and dosimetric properties of thin nanostructured layers of aluminum oxide obtained using evaporation of a target by a pulsed electron beam

Results of a study of optically and thermally stimulated luminescence (OSL and TL) of thin nanostructured aluminum oxide coatings obtained with evaporation of the target by a pulsed electron beam and deposited on quartz glass, Al, steel, Cu, Ta, and graphite wafers are presented. It follows from data of X-ray phase analysis that the obtained Al2O3 layers have an amorphous nanocrystal structure with different contents of the γ phase depending on the geometry of the wafer location on evaporation and annealing temperature of the samples. It is established that the material of the wafer and the ratio of the amorphous and γ phase in Al2O3 layers affect the yields of OSL and TL. Annealing at up to 970 K results in an increase of γ-phase concentration and OSL and TL responses. It was found that the yields of OSL and TL for the most emission-effective coating samples are comparable with those for the detectors on the basis of anion-defective corundum. The dose-dependence for β radiation, which was linear in the range 20-5000 mGy, was investigated. © 2013 Pleiades Publishing, Ltd

Preparation of Iron Oxide Nanopowders by the Radiation-Chemical Method

Various magnetic nanopowders of iron oxide were obtained using the radiation-chemical method when irradiated with a nanosecond electron beam. The main physical and chemical characteristics of the prepared nanopowders were studied, such as structure, porosity, thermal resistance and magnetic properties. It was found that, by selecting precursors and the composition of the solution, it is possible to control not only the textural properties and yield of the obtained nanopowders (by changing the dose and dose rate intensity of the electron beam), but also to obtain crystalline or amorphous nanopowders, on which their magnetic properties depend. © 2021 Institute of Physics Publishing. All rights reserved.The reported study was funded by RFBR and GACR, project number 20-58-26002

Physicochemical characterization and antioxidant properties of cerium oxide nanoparticles

Studies of the biological activity of cerium oxide nanoparticles (CONPs) show that this compound exhibits antioxidant, antitumor, antibacterial and antiviral properties. The CONPs were obtained by pulsed electron evaporation in a low-pressure gas with a specific surface area of ∼ 190 m 2 /g. Strongly-noequilibrium conditions of synthesis led to the formation of high defect structures, which makes it possible to change the Ce 3+ /Ce 4+ ions ratio and, consequently, to enhance the level of their biological activity. To analyze the content of cerium with different valences, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was performed. To determine the enzyme-like activity of CONPs, a chemical analysis of the interaction with hydrogen peroxide was carried out on a spectrophotometer. The results show a significant presence of Ce 3+ in CONPs and the inhibition of reactive oxygen species (ROS). The valence of the cerium atoms determines the chemical activity of CONPs; thus, in a more alkaline medium, the CONPs decrease the ROS concentration, while in the acidic medium its activity diminishes. By varying the parameters of the nanopowders obtained and achieving the optimum Ce 3+ /Ce 4+ ratio, one can produce CONPs having properties which enable the creation of pharmaceuticals for protection against ROS or for combating tumors, viruses and bacteria. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.This work was performed within a support of the Russian Science Foundation project [16-16-04038]